ISRAEL PHOTOS
IV -- Pilgrimage

Fisherman were unloading their catch at the
Tiberias Marina after a night of fishing from a small boat.
Methods of fishing have changed through the years.

Studies in Galilee, Ernest Masterman, University of
Chicago, 1909 -- An account of
fishing on the Sea of Galilee before motorized boats were used

Fish were caught…in the summer, chiefly from el Baailhah, the great marshy
delta of the Jordan at the northeastern corner of the Lake of Galilee. From
here, processions of mules, loaded with boxes of fish, make the five hours
journey to Safed at least once, and often twice, in the twenty four hours--except
during the Sabbath. It is indeed, as the last proviso implies, particularly for
the Jews that the fish is brought. So great is the demand that fish is often
cheaper and more plentiful in Safed than Tiberias, although it is Tiberias men
that do all the fishing.

Fishing off Tiberias is only followed to a considerable
extent during the winter and early spring months. It is not nearly so important
as that along the northern shore from Mejdel to el Bataihah. The bay at et
Tabighah is, during the early months of spring, a wonderful place to fish; they
swarm there, attracted by he copious hot springs which, loaded with vegetable
debris, here pour their waters into the lake. For about three
months--mid-January to mid-April--the fishermen make this their headquarters,
erecting, a few tents or reed huts on the shore, close to the mills. While the
water a few yards out teems with larger fish, the shallows in shore swarm with
small fry fish.

The fishing off el-Bataihah is by far the most valuable
on the whole lake. Here, close to the mouth of the Jordan, as well as in the
waters of that river, fish may be taken all the year round--though varying in kind
according to the season. The fishermen, whose homes are in Tiberias, make
temporary reed-mat shelters for themselves while on shore, beside which they
spread out their nets along the beach to dry (cf. Ezek. 24:5, 14: 47:10). It is
interesting to notice that this, the richest fishing ground, is closest to the
ruin et Tell, which is generally acknowledged to be the site of the village of
Bethsaida, the “place of fishing,” which, according to Josephus, was afterward
officially renamed Julias.

At el Huleh and the Ain el Mellahah stream (which flows
into the lake) fishing is carried on by very primitive methods. The Bedawin
fishermen occupy a mat hut, made of papyrus, on the eastern shore, close to the
Jewish settlement of Ezbaid. During the day they catch fish by means of the
“cast net,” as will be described; but at night they employ boats and use the
m’batten.

From the Lake of Galilee fish is carried fresh to Safed, Nazaraeth, and other places in Galilee, and is dried and salted for the
Damascus, Jerusalem markets. From et Huleh and Ain Mellahah fish is sent to
Safed, to Merj ‘Ayun (five or six hours away), and to Damascus. In the case of
the latter special precautions have to be taken; the fish (musht and barbut) is
caught toward the evening, is sorted out on reed mats, and packed and dispatched
the same night. Salted fish is also sent from here to Zahleh and other places
in the Lebanon. During the summer months fish cannot be sent, in a fresh state,
far from the lakes; most of it goes to Safed, and in this season almost all of
it consists of carp and barbell. (This was before there were trucks in
Palestine and the fish were transported by mules).

The average price of the best fish in Safed is from ten
to fourteen piastres a rotl, or about four pence a pound. Catfish, which is
always cheaper, may be as low as a third of this when there is a glut on the
market.

Almost all the fish are caught by means of nets, of
which there are three kinds: the “cast net” or shabakeh, the “draw net”
or jarf, and the m’batten. The old-fashioned method of poisoning
fish is still at times resorted to by amateurs. At Tiberias crumbs of bread
mixed with cochineal (which appears to be a fish poison) are thrown on the
water, and I am told that even ‘arak (spirits of wine) is also sometimes used.
The Arabs at ‘Ain el Mellahah sometimes capture the fish in the pool by means of
poison, and they also, when the weather is getting colder, and the fish by
instinct make for the deeper waters, stretch nets across the stream and make big
hauls. Yet another method employed at times at Tiberias is that of using
weighted string of sharp, unbaited hooks which are rapidly drawn through the
water, and, if skill is used, often come up with several impaled victims.